Blackout at BAFTA

Hollywood once again went all-black to support victims of sexual harassment at the 71st BAFTAs at Royal Albert Hall

Martin McDonagh’s black comedy, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which was crowned with best film, and features a powerhouse performance from Frances McDormand (who took home the Best Actress Award), surged to a surprise victory with the five top prizes at the UK’s premier film awards.

Activists on the red carpet

Activist group Sisters Uncut, which works for the survivors of domestic violence, gate-crashed the BAFTA red carpet to protest Prime Minister Theresa May’s domestic violence bill. Members of the feminist direct action group linked arms on the red carpet at the Royal Albert Hall on February 18. They wore T-shirts with the slogan ‘Time’s Up, Theresa’.

Meanwhile, Kate Middleton courted a mild controversy as the Duchess of Cambridge was dressed in an emerald green dress. The 36-year-old Royal was in a nonblack attire, defying the call for wearing black in solidarity with the ‘Time’s Up’ campaign. To her credit, Middleton wore the dress with a black sash under her bust accentuating her seven-month baby bump. The Royals are known to not make biased political statements at events.

Among other female celebrities who chose to not adhere to the all-noir dress code was Frances McDormand, in a long-sleeved, print-heavy dress, which she pointed out herself while accepting her Best Actress award for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. “I have a little trouble with compliance. But I want you to know that I stand in full solidarity with my sisters tonight in black,” she said, taking home her maiden BAFTA.

Show stealers

While a red carpet black-out is every stylist’s nightmare, the sartorial displays proved that black did not have to mean boring. Jennifer Lawrence opted for a stunning black dress, fresh from the Spring 2018 couture show.

Angelina Jolie showed up in her usual, stylish thigh-slit silhouette in an off-shoulder black velvet gown. Walking alongside was her guest, First They Killed My Father producer Rithy Panh. Salma Hayek flaunted a black floral number.

She introduced the nominees – Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Kaluuya, Jamie Bell, Timothee Chalamet and the winner Gary Oldman. But, she read from the envelope and said, “And the winner is... Frances McDormand,” in a brilliant reference to last year’s best picture mishap at the Oscars. After the initial gasp from the audience, she said, “Nahh, just kidding! The BAFTA goes to Gary Oldman”.

Scott swears

Veteran filmmaker Ridley Scott, who was honoured with the Fellowship at the 2018 BAFTAs, gave a shout-out to the teachers, calling the profession “the most important of all”. The 80-year-old filmmaker, known for films such as Blade Runner, Gladiator, Alien and Black Hawk Down, among others, said the social issues will be sorted if the state of education is taken care of by the authorities.

However, his acceptance speech didn’t go quite to plan when he swore at a distracted audience member while thanking Prince William for presenting him with the trophy. As the audience member drew Scott’s attention, he barked, “Are you bored? S**t, are you alright?”. He seemed to be aware of the mishap and later apologised to Prince William directly for swearing.

London slang

The Rising Star Award (known from 2013 as EE Rising Star prize), which is one of the BAFTA categories to applaud new talent in the acting industry with a trophy that resembles a blue BAFTA, was bagged by Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya. He was the only BAFTA-winner to be voted by the public. “My mum is the reason why I started, the reason why I’m here and the reason why I keep going”, he said as he accepted the award. He repeated the word “levels” about 20 times, giving the BAFTAs a huge dose of London slang.

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